Game Statistics

Details

Date

Event

Season

City

Attendance

MVP

MVP Team

March 2, 1951

All-Star Game

1951

Boston

10,094

Ed Macauley

East

The beginning of the big adventure. An idea from Haskell Cohen supported by the Celtics’ founder, Walter Brown, who decided to start the first NBA All Star in the Boston Garden. What a great idea considering that the NBA All-Star Event happened every year since then, except for 1999 due to the NBA lockout.

The All-Stars were chosen by the league’s sportswriters, and everybody played with all their might, eager (and needing) to capture the $100 awarded to members of the winning team.

But there was also another reason for the players’ intensity: Many of the West All-Stars were NBL (National Basketball League) veterans, while most of the East cagers were refugees from the BAA (Basketball Association of America). Accordingly, the edge of competition was sharpened by a historical rivalry between the two defunct leagues.

Finally, the East achieved the first All-Star victory leaded by Easy Ed Macauley with 20 points.